Match report
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United
And that’s that! United win it late. They almost certainly deserved it on the balance of play, if not quite the balance of refereeing decisions. But they were by far the better team tonight. They’ve won two Premier League matches in a row for the first time since August. They stay sixth, in touch with the leading pack. Palace are 16th, meanwhile, still with many worries, though they probably shouldn’t beat themselves up for losing a match in which they had legitimate grievances.
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90 min +3: Palace are struggling to get hold of the ball. Whistles from the away end.
90 min +2: United take an age over a throw down the right, Rashford having earned it with a powerful run. Clever game management. Time is their friend.
90 min +1: The first 60 seconds are all whittled away by United in Palace’s half. The away fans giving it plenty.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
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89 min: Just before what is surely the winner, Palace made their last change, Campbell coming on for McArthur.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United (Ibrahimovic 88)
What a finish! Blind drifts in from the left, and finds Pogba, who slides a pass down the channel to release Ibrahimovic into the box. The big Swede faces a tight angle, but leans back and lashes a willowy effort across Hennessey and into the right-hand side of the net! All that pressure has finally told!
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86 min: Pogba blooters long down the left for Ibrahimovic, who works his way into the box but has his shot blocked the minute it leaves his boot. Delaney with the fine defence there. And then another wave of attack. Ibrahimovic, on the left of the Palace D, lays off for the in-rushing Pogba. McArthur eases him out of the way. Pogba crashes to the floor. It’s not a foul, it’s not a dive. We move on.
84 min: Rashford is booked for leaving a foot in on McArthur. The young man can have no complaints, and to be fair doesn’t bother arguing.
83 min: The first lull of the evening? What a time to have it.
81 min: Both teams make a change. Fryers comes on for Lee, while Rashford replaces Rooney. No club-record-equalling goal for the United captain tonight. In the stands, Sir Bobby looks on impassively.
79 min: Ibrahimovic glides in from the right and flicks a cute ball down the channel for Lingard, who thrashes a first-time shot towards the bottom right. Hennessey parries well, and the corner comes to nothing. But United are beginning to turn the screw again. Palace are beginning to give up chances.
78 min: A corner for United on the right. It’s hit deep. Rojo nearly guides a header into the top left, but his effort floats just wide. Imagine the reaction if he gets the winner.
77 min: Some footage of Ibrahimovic planting his elbow in Cabaye’s startled coupon, during the build-up to Rooney’s effort just after the Palace goal. Probably worth nothing more than a stern chat - the pair were contesting a loose ball in midfield - but it doesn’t earn even that.
76 min: A couple of scrambles in the Palace box as United turn up the heat again. Rooney forces Ledley into the concession of a corner on the right. Then Pogba twists and turns just to the left of goal, only to run the ball out of play.
73 min: Lingard has replaced Mata, by the way. Rooney - who could easily have been booked himself a few minutes ago for getting up in the ref’s grille - miskicks from eight yards. A decent cross from the right by Darmian comes to nothing.
72 min: And another slightly dubious one, as Delaney is booked for what looked like a decent tackle on Herrera in the midfield. This is such a strange game.
70 min: And there’s more for United to complain about, as they have a good goal disallowed! Herrera, down the left, floats high towards Rojo, rising high on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Rojo heads down for Mata, who sweeps home. But the flag goes up. It may be - I stress may be - that Rojo was about 0.00000001mm in front of his man just as Herrera crossed. But even if that was the case, it was so close that you have to give the attacking side the benefit of the doubt. United don’t get it. The referee and his assistants are having a shocker tonight. They’ve got just about every decision wrong!
69 min: ... the ball’s surely going to be headed powerfully goalwards by Rojo. But Ledley, with his back to goal, elbows the ball away from Rojo’s startled face. It should have been a penalty, but it’s not given. United are fuming, and Pogba’s booked for complaining.
68 min: United respond excellently, Rooney dropping a shoulder and unleashing a screamer towards the top left. Hennessey extends himself to tip round the post. And from the corner...
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Manchester United (McArthur 66)
What a lovely passing move this is! The free kick, from the right, is cleared by United. But Ward recycles possession down the left and cuts inside, laying off for Delaney, who back-flicks a first-time ball down the channel to release McArthur into the box. McArthur tucks the ball into the bottom left, very tidily indeed. But that was all about the flick from Delaney! What a gorgeous piece of skill!
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65 min: A pass fizzed down the right wing for Benteke, who has his back to the United goal. He’s upended by Rojo from behind. On the touchline, Alan Pardew demands a second yellow for the player, who really is trying it on. But it’s just a free kick. From which...
63 min: From the resulting corner, floated into the box, Dann wins a header. But there’s no power in his effort, which sails serenely towards the top right. De Gea plucks it from the sky,
62 min: Another rare spell of possession for Palace. But it’s all in the middle of the pitch, and there’s not a whole lot of intricate movement going on up front. Pass, pass, pass, nothing. But then suddenly Ledley and McArthur decide to step up the pace. Ledley cuts in from the right and slips the ball inside for McArthur, who sends a heatseeker towards the top right. De Gea, at full stretch, fingertips marvellously round the post.
59 min: Ibrahimovic rises on the edge of the Palace D and cushions a header down for Mata, who nearly returns the favour with a cute back-heel. But Delaney reads the intent, and sashays clear with the ball.
58 min: From the resulting free kick, 25 yards out, Ibrahimovic shanks a hilariously poor effort 25 yards to the right of goal. A little something for the home crowd to enjoy at last. Ibrahimovic shrugs in his trademark insouciant style.
56 min: McArthur barges Rooney to the floor as the United striker makes good down the middle. A common or garden free kick, though Rooney, falling, clanks accidentally into Delaney’s standing leg, and takes a right whack on his knee. It looks as though he’ll be OK, as he’s up and about after a fashion, though he’s grimacing quite a lot.
55 min: The United travelling support, always one of the noisiest in the land, are belting out their festive Cantona number. With extra gusto at this particular ground, one would imagine.
53 min: Ledley cuts in from the left and swings a ball into the United box for Benteke. Jones leverages his jump by putting both hands on Benteke’s shoulders. It would have been the softest penalty imaginable, but you’ve seen them given, especially if a referee’s got a previous mistake worming around in his brain. But Palace don’t get the gift. To be fair, they don’t really complain.
52 min: Nope, he can’t continue, though United fans will be pleased to hear that he’s able to walk off and doesn’t look in serious pain. Darmian comes on in his stead.
51 min: United respond with some possession of their own. Carrick pings the ball this way and that, before chipping one down the inside-right channel, nearly releasing Bailly. But the defender checks his run, the ball flies out for a goal kick, and then he’s down holding his leg again. For the third time this evening, this doesn’t look promising for Bailly.
48 min: Palace are seeing a lot more of the ball in this half. Admittedly the data set isn’t too large yet. Baby steps, though. Cabaye, down the left, floats a long cross into the middle. Neither Jones nor Rojo look particularly comfortable under it as the ball drops, but Benteke’s kind of under it as well, and though he gets his head on the ball, he can’t generate any power and his effort floats harmlessly wide right.
46 min: Nearly an instant impact by Ledley! Benteke chases after a cross that’s too strong from the right. He checks back down the left and pings the ball inside for Ledley, who shifts his feet and launches a no-backlift riser towards the top right. Not quite on target, and De Gea had it covered, but that’s already better from Palace, who didn’t hit a shot in anger during the first half.
And we’re off again! An almost certainly livid Crystal Palace get the ball rolling for the second half. United should be a man down, while their goal shouldn’t have stood. Then again, Lee’s challenge on Bailly wasn’t too clever either. Still, the hosts are in moral credit, even if the visitors have the advantage on the actual scoreboard. Can Palace channel their frustration in a positive manner? This could be an interesting half all right. Ledley is on for Flamini.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester United
Well, a very suspicious goal there at the end of the half. Thing is, though, United deserve to be in the lead on the balance of play. And down to ten men. Those two incidents probably qualify as talking points. What a moral maze.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Manchester United (Pogba 45+2)
Mata swings it into the box. Ibrahimovic, on the edge of the six-yard box, chests it down for Pogba by turning his body left to right. There’s a bit of arm in there. Also, Pogba looks an inch or two offside as the ball drops to him. But the flag stays down, and Pogba sweeps home! Palace won’t be very happy with that at all.
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45 min +1: One added minute. And it’s a complete disaster for Palace. First, Kelly is booked for stamping on Blind’s foot from behind. And from the free kick out on the left...
45 min: Zaha and Lee are two-on-one down the Palace right. They take turns to work space, before taking too long to cross and checking back. Eventually Zaha, at the third time of asking, breaks clear. He’s got Benteke and McArthur in the middle, but blooters a useless cross over everyone and harmlessly towards Blind on the other wing.
42 min: United are back on the front foot. Pogba floats a pass from left to right for Bailly, who is in acres. He can’t quite find Rooney in the middle. Then Pogba is released into the box by a lovely floated pass from Carrick. He opens his body and sidefoots powerfully goalwards. Hennessey somehow parries clear with his knees. Then, in a third phase of attack, Mata very nearly hits the target with a snapshot from a tight position on the right. But not quite. Palace have been hanging on for the most part here.
39 min: Rojo should have been sent off for a two-footed lunge at Everton the other week, and once again he escapes a red card for a similar challenge. He’s off the ground, studs up, out of control, and heading for Zaha’s leg. He doesn’t connect, but only because Zaha manages to abort his mission for the ball. Rojo should be walking. Instead, it’s just a yellow. And a free kick, which is whipped into the United area from the right. Benetke gets eyebrows on the ball, and McArthur blasts hysterically wide from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box.
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38 min: This is good end-to-end fun now. Palace nearly undo United by making like it’s 1991 all over again, a big, basic hoof down the middle which Rojo and Jones misread. Zaha is inches away from connecting. Then down the other end, Pogba chips down the right channel for Rooney, who nearly hooks over his shoulder and into the top right. Hennessey pushes it round the post brilliantly, and the corner is cleared.
36 min: Ibrahimovic picks up possession 35 yards from goal. He sends a dipping screamer goalwards, but it’s deflected well wide right for a corner. From the set piece, Pogba rises above Dann, but doesn’t connect properly and Hennessey claims.
35 min: Cabaye looks for Benteke at the far stick. Nobody bothers attacking the curling cross, though, and Pogba heads clear with ease.
34 min: Rojo and Zaha contest a long ball. Rojo idiotically barges Zaha to the floor, gifting Palace a free kick 30 yards from goal, out on the right. Cabaye will take, aiming for a loaded box.
32 min: The first sustained period of possession for Palace in the United half. Kelly finds a bit of space down the right, but his cross is blocked by Rooney. Zaha twists adroitly down the left, but his pullback from the byline is all over the shop. Finally Zaha has another go from the same wing, but his looping cross, intended for Benteke, is easily snaffled by De Gea.
30 min: Rooney miscontrols on the edge of the Palace area when a shot was on. The ball very nearly breaks forward to Ibrahimovic, who was sniffing around cleverly, but Hennessey is off his line quickly to smother. A real sense that it’s just a matter of time for United, something reflected by the away support giving it plenty, drowning out the usually noisy Selhurst faithful.
28 min: A free kick for Palace in the midfield allows them to load the United box and lump it forward. Benteke rises high and beats Carrick to a header, the latter falling to the floor, but the pressure’s relieved with a slightly generous free kick. Benteke simply timed his leap better. But that’s a rare sortie upfield for the home side, who are otherwise struggling to get into this game. United are well on top, applying all the pressure.
25 min: Herrera dances down the right and nearly dribbles his way into the box in ever decreasing circles. He eventually gets dizzy and Ward steps up to clear. He shifts the ball upfield to Cabaye, who executes a pathetic dive near Pogba in the centre circle. He should be booked for his sauce, and Pogba’s waving an imaginary card, but a real one’s not coming out.
23 min: Bailly is up and fully functional again. And he’s racing down the right, all the way to the byline. He pulls a fine low ball back into the box. He nearly finds Mata, but Cabaye has read the danger and steps in to intercept.
22 min: Carrick is down now, rolling around. That was more of a 50-50 thing with Benteke, though the striker gets a good talking to nevertheless. This is beginning to get heated, and it’s woken the crowd up. United had done well to quieten them down up to this point.
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20 min: Bailly has kept going, but now he’s down on the floor holding that left knee again. It’s been kicked this time, studded by a reckless - though I would stress accidental - challenge by Lee. Lack of intent or no, that wasn’t a good challenge, arguably out of control. It should have been at least a yellow; on another night it could even have been a red.
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19 min: United are coming at Palace from all angles. A deep cross from the left by Pogba flies out of play to the right of the Palace goal. Ibrahimovic wasn’t far away from that.
18 min: Ibrahimovic, deep on the right, pitching-wedges a lovely diagonal ball into the box, very nearly finding the head of Rooney on the penalty spot. Again, not quite. But United are playing some good-looking stuff right now. Only the final ball is lacking. Palace aren’t in this at all.
16 min: Pogba turns quickly down the inside-left channel and strides into the box. He thinks about shooting, but lays down the channel to Mata, who has scuttled infield from the wing. Mata reaches the byline and chips inside with a view to finding Ibrahimovic’s head, six yards out. It’s too high, but finds Herrera on the right-hand edge of the D. Herrera flashes a hysterical shot miles over the bar.
14 min: Finally a moment for Palace in the United half. Jones plays a loose ball which is picked up by an opportunistic Benteke, 30 yards out down the inside-right channel. Benteke shuffles his feet quickly and cleverly, and nearly breaks into the box, but Rojo does just enough to irritate him, and the ball rolls through to De Gea.
13 min: Zaha steals the ball off Rooney and looks to break from deep inside his own half. Herrera blocks him legally and makes off the other way. He thinks about shooting from the edge of the box but can’t get anything away. But United are soon coming back at Palace, Rooney cutting in from the left and giving Pogba the ball. Pogba, from the best part of 30 yards, tries to whip one into the top right. Not quite. Not so far away either, though.
11 min: United are utterly dominant. Blind and Rooney combine down the left, the former then nearly releasing Mata along the other wing with a delicious crossfield pass. It’s inches away from coming off. Palace clear their lines. But they can’t get a sniff at the minute.
9 min: Ibrahimovic tries to burst his way clear down the middle. He reaches the edge of the Palace box, but by the time he gets there, he’s got four red-and-blue shirts around him. The ball breaks out of the swarm and through to Hennessey. “There are many fine budget hotels within a short range of Selhurst Park – the squad could bond with their dedicated fan base in one of the nearby pubs as well. Send my suggestion along to Mourinho, would you?” Tracy Mohr, there, deliberately pressing United fans’ buttons.
7 min: Bailly gets up. For a second it looks as though he’s going to be replaced by Darmian, but he walks off gingerly, before coming back on. He doesn’t look totally happy, though. Darmian continues to warm up, just in case. For the record: Bailly went up for a high ball with Lee; there was no contact, but he seemed to jar his knee when landing.
6 min: This will be a concern for United, though. Eric Bailly has gone down off the ball, and is holding his left knee, looking very unhappy. He turns and looks anxiously at his bench.
5 min: Palace have hardly had a touch yet. Herrera, Rooney and Mata triangulate at speed down the inside-right channel. Eventually Mata, on the right-hand corner of the Palace area, clips a cross inside for Rooney, who attempts to steer a header towards the top right. It’s high and wide, but that was a smooth move.
3 min: The set piece comes to nothing. Ibrahimovic meets it, beating Dann this time but heading lamely at Hennessey. But United have started very confidently. There’s already a bit of strut about them, a dip in their hip and a glide in their stride. The sort of self-assurance that was missing against, say, Watford earlier in the season. A sense that things are beginning to click.
2 min: So after 90 seconds of United possession, Bailly creams a long ball forward. Ibrahimovic very nearly gets clear into the area, but Dann rises to head the ball behind for a corner on the right instead.
And we’re off! United get things going, and stroke it around the back awhile. Everyone gets a touch. Herrera tries to get something going down the right, with a couple of no-nonsense probes, but his passes to Ibrahimovic and Mata are just fired straight back to him. United go backwards and stroke it around some more.
It’s hardly breaking news, but there’s a wonderful atmosphere at Selhurst Park. They sure know how to do these things round here. The home support belting out the Dave Clark Five. A strobe light show. An eagle. The home heroes are in their red-and-blue striped kit, forcing the visitors out of their famous red shirts and into third-choice white and black. It’s a cold, crisp, clear night in south London. We’ll be off in a minute!
United finally made it to the stadium, pretty much the minute your super soaraway MBM was telling you they weren’t there yet. Five past the hour. But we did also say everything would be fine in the long run, so it’s swings and roundabouts. A score draw. Whether this means we’ll hear from Jose Mourinho before the game, or he’s too flustered to speak, only time will tell. But in the meantime, here’s some hot chat from Alan Pardew. “The team I have selected has hopefully surprised their manager. I’m trying to give him some problems, because I know how thorough he can be. So hopefully that’ll upset him, and give us a good start in the game. Mathieu Flamini has played 400 games in the Premier League, so that should speak for itself. It’s a tall order for him, having not played much this season, but hopefully he’ll fly out of the blocks.”
Three changes to the Palace team that kicked off the 3-3 draw at Hull City last weekend. Andros Townsend, Joe Ledley and Jason Puncheon are replaced by Mathieu Flamini, Yohan Cabaye and Lee Chung-Yong.
Manchester United make four swaps from the XI which started their 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. The injured Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the big miss, with Matteo Darmian, Luis Antonio Valencia and Anthony Martial also standing down. Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney step up.
Another chance for Rooney to finally equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s club scoring record, then. He’s been stuck on 248 ever since finding the net against Feyenoord three weeks ago, one short of the great man’s long-standing mark. It could be a memorable night, given the state of Palace’s defence.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Kelly, McArthur, Flamini, Cabaye, Lee, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Speroni, Campbell, Townsend, Ledley, Fryers, Husin, Wan Bissaka.
Manchester United: de Gea, Bailly, Jones, Rojo, Blind, Herrera, Carrick, Pogba, Mata, Ibrahimovic, Rooney.
Subs: Lingard, Young, Rashford, Romero, Fellaini, Schweinsteiger, Darmian.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
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Word is that Manchester United are stuck in terrible traffic on their way to Selhurst Park. Many folk will have given up on the trains round that way, of course, what with those clowns at Southern running the show. United are making a habit of this, mind, having rocked up late to White Hart Lane last season. Sure all will be fine in the long run. Teams soon!
Preamble
All of a sudden, life doesn’t seem so bad for Manchester United. The semis of the League Cup. A good draw in Europe. And they’ve finally worked out how to hang onto a 1-0 lead. OK, so they’re not playing with the free-flowing ease of Ernest Mangnall’s 1908 championship team quite yet, never mind Matt Busby’s 1948 cup winners or Alex Ferguson’s whirlwind side of 1994. But they’re not far away from clicking either. It was only a few weeks ago when the punditocracy launched an emergency search for Jose Mourinho’s mojo. Now there are signs he’s slowly piecing together a team that’ll someday earn him a spot on that super-elite list of United title winners alongside Mangnall, Busby and Ferguson. Maybe not this season. Very possibly next. Then again, a 13-point gap in December... it’s not completely insurmountable, is it? So you never know. Mourinho won’t have given up the chase, you can be damn sure of that.
Whether Crystal Palace represent a potential banana skin is a moot point. They haven’t beaten United at Selhurst Park since a 3-0 win in May 1991, and that was when the visitors were making their preparations for a Cup Winners Cup final against Barcelona. Recent form isn’t the hosts’ friend either. Palace lost six Premier League matches in a row recently, while last weekend they required a last-minute equaliser to scramble a point at Hull City. But on the other hand, they won their last home match comfortably, 3-0 over the usually parsimonious Saints, and their otherwise dismal run of results obscures the fact they’ve been in the goals: 15 in the last six matches. That’s one more than Chelsea and Arsenal over the same period, and only two less than Liverpool. Of course, they’ve conceded 17 during that time too, but they’re up against it tonight, so it’s only fair we accentuate their positives. Yes, most of the pointers suggest United should win this one easily enough. But this is football, ladies and gents. Alan Pardew won’t have written off a chance to avenge last May’s cup final defeat, you can be damn sure of that.
And of course this is also the scene of that incident. You know, that one. “Off you go, an early bath for you!” A fine atmosphere is pretty much guaranteed. But then it always is at Selhurst Park, no matter who the visitors are. Can Palace bag some precious points in their struggle at the bottom? Or will United move a step closer to the leading pack, their title ambitions not over just yet? This promises to be a belter. It’s all to play for. It’s on! Kick-off is at 8pm GMT.
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